Metro-North riders escaping Penn. Station disruption

By Jim Shay

Published 6:28 am, Monday, July 10, 2017

Photo: Kathy Willens / AP

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Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work on the tracks beneath Penn Station, Sunday, July 9, 2017, in New York. A massive two-month repair project will launch Monday at the country's busiest train station. The summer's accelerated repair work, prompted by two derailments this spring, will close some of the station's 21 tracks and require a roughly 20 percent reduction in the number of commuter trains coming in from New Jersey and Long Island. less

Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work on the tracks beneath Penn Station, Sunday, July 9, 2017, in New York. A massive two-month repair project will launch Monday at the country's busiest ... more

Photo: Kathy Willens / AP

Metro-North riders escaping Penn. Station disruption

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Metro-North riders will, for the most part, escape the summer-long rail work at Penn Station that begins on Monday.

The work, however, will direct some Amtrak trains to GCT through Sept. 10. Amtrak is beginning extensive repairs Monday to tracks and signals in Penn Station, which it owns and operates.

The work was initially scheduled to be done over a few years on nights and weekends, but two recent derailments and other problems that spotlighted the station's aging infrastructure convinced Amtrak to accelerate the work schedule.

For Northeast Regional Service, three round trip trains (six total trains) between New York and Washington are cancelled. Amtrak service between New York and Boston will operate at currently scheduled levels.

For several hundred thousand commuters on the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit — as well as Amtrak passengers who ride between Boston and Washington, D.C. — that means fewer trains during peak periods, the result of track closures to accommodate the repairs.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the Penn Station work a "summer of hell" for commuters.

The LIRR is adding train cars to try and serve as many people as possible, and is urging riders to switch to subways in Brooklyn and Queens. New Jersey Transit is diverting some rush hour trains to Hoboken, where passengers can switch to trains operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, or to ferries.

Both railroads are offering discounted tickets to those most affected by the disruptions, and have devised plans that use alternative forms of transportation.